I am one of those people who has lots of circles of friends. Single girl friends, church friends, work friends, “campus” friends, Powered by Hope friends, blogging friends, twitter friends, high school friends, college friends, Birmingham friends, camp friends…just to name a few.

So naturally I have several friends who have never had the opportunity to meet. Sometimes it is easier to keep the circles separate.

But sometimes it is fun to find a few friends from two different groups and introduce them, to play “matchmaker.”

Now, I am not talking about matchmaking in a romantic way. (Although that can be fun too.) Here’s what I’m talking about:

A few months ago I arranged a happy hour with the sole purpose of introducing my friends Bryan and Suzanne Norman to Matthew and Alyson Costner. I have known “the Normans” for a few years. They are some of my favorite people on the planet. They are passionate. They love good food. And they are great for a deep conversation about anything from faith to politics or for a night out singing karaoke (You should see Bryan do Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”) (more…)

Last night I had dinner with Spence Smith, Keely Marie Scott, and Ryan O’Quinn. I had never met Keely and Ryan before “in real life.” But they were even cooler than I imagined.

I had so much fun. It was one of those nights that was completely energizing (something I don’t take for granted in this season of Christmas parties and holiday hoopla). It was one of those nights when I reconnected with how much I love interacting with new and interesting people in a small group setting (not at cocktail party setting, that kinda freaks me out).

We talked about Compassion International. We talked 90210. We talked Battle Star Galactica (or “BSG” as I learned it is so aptly called).

We talked blogging. We talked steaming techniques (I’ll note the girls at the table had not-a-thing to contribute to this conversation). We talked books. We talked Glee. We talked Pioneer Woman. We talked Cross Point. (more…)

So last week, I wrote about never having a clue what I wanted to be when I grew up. As I finished that post and replied to some of your comments, I realized I had only really told half of the story, the easy half.

The more difficult half of the story is WHY I have never wanted to define my future. To answer that question I have to dig a lot deeper.

I guess it all boils down to FEAR. I am afraid of sharing my deepest desires (especially with myself) because many of them feel very out of my reach. I am afraid of setting my expectations too high only to feel gut-wrenching disappointment when they are not met. I am afraid of establishing goals that I might not attain. (more…)

When I started my blog back in February, I had no idea…well I had no idea about anything really.

I didn’t know what I was going to write about it. Or even if I could write. I didn’t know if I would have any readers. And I certainly didn’t know that my parents would be printing off posts and showing them to their friends and colleagues (because I assure you if I knew that I would have never ever started). But most importantly I didn’t know how much I would enjoy the whole blogging process.

So completely naive, I began to blog. And I have loved every minute of it.

Six months later, I am committed to taking this to the next level. Meaning I am ditching my hastily thrown together design and going for something a little sleeker. Meaning I making a commitment to write more often, at least three posts a week. Hopefully by putting words to that commitment, I will make it so.

Today I am launching I’m Just Saying 2.0 at www.lindseynobles.com.  I believe if you subscribe via RSS feed or email that  will still work (let me know if they don’t). But be sure to bookmark this new address if that is how you find me. (It should be easy to remember since it is just my first and last name and .com. I am all about making this easy for you )

And I am still learning how to drive this thing. So PLEASE don’t hesitate to let me know if you find something that’s a little wonky.

PS – Special thank yous to Spence Smith for helping me do the heavy lifting, to Michael Hyatt for encouraging me along the way, and to Mary Hooper for my fun new header.

And with no further delay, I’d like to say “Weclome, again…”

Last Thursday, Thomas Nelson hosted LifeWork 2.0, a Social Media tutorial created by Spence Smith and Randy Elrod. All in all, there were about 30 attendees from Thomas Nelson and 20 folks from all around the United States. I love Randy and Spence’s energy. Their passion about this stuff is contagious! And I have caught the bug.

It was really fun. And informative. Here were my top 5 takeaways: (more…)